The present invention relates generally to novelty items for animals, and more particularly to an edible greeting card for pets.
Many families have nets which are increasingly treated as members of the family. Many pet owners enjoy including their beloved pets in holiday festivities such as birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Valentine""s Day, Thanksgiving, and Halloween. As greeting cards are traditionally given to loved ones on such holidays, many pet owners give greeting cards to their pets or send greeting cards from themselves or their pets to the pets of relatives and close friends. Pets do not appreciate the significance of a typical greeting card and do not get any enjoyment out of receiving such a card. The present invention solves the problem of typical greeting cards by providing an edible greeting card which provides enjoyment to the pet as well as the pet owner and sender of the card.
A variety of patents disclose greeting cards which include gifts or where the card itself may be construed as a gift. U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,516 to Stonoga et al. discloses a novelty greeting card wherein a dog biscuit is contained within a non-edible greeting card particularly configured to hold the dog biscuit. The greeting card disclosed by Stonoga et al. requires the pet owner to remove the pet treat from its protective pocket within the non-edible greeting card prior to ingestion by the pet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,365 to Stuart discloses a greeting card assembly having a removable insert containing a message. The message insert, once removed from the greeting card, may be kept as an ornament such as a Christmas tree ornament or other similar decorative item.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,589,047 to Hess discloses a novelty greeting card comprising a substantially three-dimensional caricature which is collapsible onto a base sheet. The caricature is inflated by blowing air into the caricature through a hole in the base sheets, thus providing a three-dimensional gift in a substantially flat greeting card.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,496 to Davidson et al. discloses a combination greeting card and gift pouch. A single sheet is tri-folded into a closed pouch, with adhesive provided along the margins of the sheet, thereby enabling the pouch to be sealed and mailed as a greeting card.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,548,527 to Acosta et al. discloses a card having a pivotable rear panel whereby a photograph or other picture may be placed within the card to attractively mount the photo or picture.
Several U.S. patents disclose items which are ingestible by animals, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,758 to Fruthaler et al., which discloses shaped, flavored articles which are attractive to masticating animals and have the texture, appearance and aroma of natural food materials. U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,916 to Skoch discloses an animal feed supplement in block form. U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,058 to Chandler discloses a composite animal food having a crunchy shell surrounding a deformable core of edible protein and water soluble solids.
While the prior art provides many varieties of animal foods and greeting cards, the prior art does not address the inherent need of pet owners to demonstrate their affection to their pets in a manner similar to that by which they demonstrate their affection to other humans.
There remains a need for a greeting card which the giver, pet owner and pet may enjoy, and the present invention is directed to resolving that need.
The present invention solves the problem of prior art greeting cards and pet novelty articles in that the giver, pet owner and pet receive enjoyment from the giving and receiving of the edible greeting card.
An edible greeting card suitable for ingestion by a pet such as a horse, dog, cat, rabbit or bird comprises at least one substantially rigid edible panel having a thickness, a perimeter, and front and back surfaces. At least one message region is located on the front surface and/or back surface of the substantially rigid edible panel and is positioned within the perimeter of the substantially rigid edible panel.
At least one edible message is provided within at least one message region and, in a preferred embodiment, a plurality of messages are provided on the edible panels of the greeting card. The edible message has a plurality of characters, each character being sufficiently large so as to be perceived by the average human. The message regions are configured so as to permit the placement thereupon of at least one edible message, and in the preferred embodiment, the message region is flat.
In embodiments utilizing two or more panels, edible joining means are provided so that one edible panel may be joined to another edible panel, creating a joined structure which may stand upright on a horizontal surface. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a flexible rawhide strip is threaded through holes placed proximate to the perimeter of the edible panels. Alternate embodiments may utilize an edible adhesive or flexible edible hinge. Other alternate embodiments of the invention may be constructed of a single member having an indented, perforated or thinner hinge area positioned between two panel areas so that the single member may be folded alone, the flexible hinge.
The panels are positioned within the vicinity of the pet so that the pet may view and ingest the panels and edible message. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, at least one supporting section is positioned along and attached to the perimeter of at least one edible panel. Thus, the joined edible panels are supportable upon at least one supporting section on a horizontal surface so that the center of gravity of the joined panels is positioned above the horizontal surface. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the supporting section has a thickness which is equal to or greater than the thickness of the substantially rigid edible panel to which it is attached.
In alternate embodiments, the greeting card may be suspended from a cage rail by a hook, wire or placed in a holder.
In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, a single rigid edible panel suitable for ingestion by a pet is provided, having at least one message region positioned on the front and/or back surface of the rigid edible panel and at least one edible message relating to the pet positioned within the message region. The rigid edible panel is positioned in the vicinity of the pet so that the pet may ingest the panel and edible message in a manner similar to the multiple-panel greeting card. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a wire is provided, the central portion of the wire enclosed in the edible panel such that the ends of the wire extend exteriorly of the edible panel. The wire ends are attachable to one or more rigid protecting members in the vicinity of the pet.
Other objects, advantages and applications of the present invention will be made clear by the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.